Good old days of Summer!

We really are having a great summer. It is flying but but the kids have had so much fun between playing with their friends, summer rec and all the other things we have done!

Last Monday Charlie went to the Dr. to get his arm checked and the Dr. said it was looking great and that if we thought Charlie would be careful he could just leave in a splint for another week or so. Well the Dr. was telling Charlie the list of things he couldn't do like ride his bike, climb on the jungle gym, ride his scooter, jump on the trampoline when Charlie piped up and asked "can I play dodge ball with my friends?" the Dr.s response was we are going to go ahead and put a cast on for a week. Luckily it was just a short arm cast and he only wears it until this Wednesday.






Having the cast didn't slow him down at all. Last week was our last week of summer rec and the kids had a great time. On Thursday night they had a BBQ and show for the families down at the lake. Charlie and Annie were so cute out there dancing with all their friends. After the show they had music on and all the kids were out there dancing and Audrey went down and stood in front of everyone and started dancing. It was one of the cutest things ever!




On Tuesday of last week my sister Kiersten and sister-in-law Natasha came over and we took all the kids out to the lake to try to take some group pictures of the kids. My sister Caitlin came along and took them and they turned out really cute. After the pictures the kids all had a great time swimming in the lake and playing on the beach.






We went swimming at friends on Wednesday and Thursday and the kids are like little fish in the water. I am amazed how good Charlie is doing considering he wears a big blue sleeve over his cast to keep it dry.

Friday we went back to the lake for the summer rec party and the kids had a blast swimming with all their friends. One of Charlie's favorite things to do there is to try and catch little fish with his bucket. (you could use a pole but I can't carry that and everything else I have to carry!) So Charlie and his friends walk in the shallow edge around the lake and try to catch little fish. I am not sure what they are but the lake is full of trout and bass. Well on Friday Charlie caught one and we now have a fish on our counter in a sand pail. I keep joking that we may be the only people in the world with a pet trout! Tomorrow we are going to take him back to the lack and let him go.

This week we are just going to get ready for John's sister's Cindy and her kids visit. Annie & Charlie are so excited to have their cousins come to their house!

Going with the flow

We had a good week. I am feeling soooo much better after my little jaw accident. I spent the weekend and Monday heavily medicated and by Tuesday I was able to really start eating normal food and not talk funny.

Annie & Charlie spent another week at summer rec. It has been so fun for them and I think it has been great for Annie to have something everyday, she has been very sweet and a lot less whinny since summer rec. We may have to find more for her to do come fall. She has been asking to do gymnastics so that may be her big treat come fall and Charlie being in first grade

Charlie has gotten grumpier & grumpier about his cast this last week, luckily today we go to the doctors to get the long arm cast off and x-rays to see if he needs a short arm cast for another week. He is sure he won't need another cast so we are keeping our fingers crossed.

Audrey has been so cute lately. She loves to make us laugh and will stand in front of all of us and dance. I have been taking her on walks while the older kids are at summer rec and she just waves and says hi to everyone who walks by. She loves to see all the animals on our walks, we often see deer, rabbits, lizards, ducks, geese and lots of other birds, she yells out to them and points (it is kind of like going to the zoo for free!!!)

Well the day is calling, I have tons to do in the next 2 weeks. My sister-in-law and her kids are coming for a few days next week then we leave the following week for WI to see John's parents for 2 weeks and then after that we are only home one week and school starts, were did all the time go and all my good intentions to get stuff done for the summer!

Our Second Home for the week - the ER!

This has been a crazy week. Last Saturday the kids went over to my brother & sister-in-laws house to play in the morning so John & I could go look for a new refrigerator. The kids had a great time and everything was good, well that afternoon around 2:00 Charlie said his tummy started hurting, well to make a long story short it was soon coming out of both ends of him and he was crying he didn't feel good. About 6:00 that night John had taken Annie out on a daddy-daughter date & I was sitting in the bathroom with him when his head fell back against the tank of the toilet and his eyes starting rolling back in his head. I picked him up and took him to the emergency room. The doctor gave him some anti-nausea medicine and he was on an IV for a few hours. The doctor thought the stomach cramping may have just been so painful he passed out. John had come to switch kids with me so I could put the girls to bed and he & Charlie didn't get home until after 1:00 am. The next morning Charlie woke up late but he was fine, you would never have known he was sick the day before.

Monday was fine, the kids had summer rec and I assumed what Charlie had was fluke. Well Tuesday afternoon Annie who had been fine all morning, came up to me about 2:00 and said I don't feel good then proceeded to get sick! She would lay on the couch crying my stomach hurts, when will it stop. It is so hard to see your little ones sick like that. She finally fell asleep early and when she woke up the next morning she was fine. As you can imagine Audrey & John came down with it Wednesday but theirs was very short - luckily for all of us it seems to be about an 8 hour illness.

So by Thursday morning everyone was fine. Well that night we went out to get some dinner and then John took us all to the driving range. I was chasing Audrey around trying to keep her out of every one's way. At one point she started to dart up to Charlie & I ran to get her and WHACK!!! Charlie caught me in the jaw with his nine iron! After a moment where pain simply exploded in my head we realized he had split open my chin but the worst pain was the other side of my face from where he hit - my jaw up by my ear.

So again we spent another lovely evening in the ER. My sister-in-law came and took the kids home and put them to bed for us which we really appreciated, the ER was packed (there were 5 or 6 little leaguers in there with broken arms)! I had x-rays & a ct scan done and my jaw luckily wasn't broken, the Doctor figured what happened was the impact of the hit dislocated my jaw for a second then it popped back into place. So basically it is like whip-lash of the jaw. My muscles are sore and stiff and I can't open my mouth very far or chew. By the time they finally got to looking at the cut on my chin, it had started to close and they couldn't get it to re-open so they put glue all over it to keep it sealed, but I will have a little scar to remember this day by. The Doctor gave me vicoden, motrin and Flexeral so between those three drugs I am pretty much out of it and loopy! The Doctor said it may take 5 or 6 days for my jaw to stop hurting so I am very glad it happened on a long weekend. John spent the night trying to make me laugh, he kept joking that everyone was giving him funny looks. Who wouldn't when he checked me in and said, she got hit in the jaw and it might be broken. At one point a new nurse came to discharge me and John went to get my medicine at the pharmacy and the nurse asked if I had spoken to the police yet and filed a report. I looked at him like he was crazy and said "I have to file a report because my six year old clipped me with a golf club" He looked shocked and said he assumed when I said he hit me in the jaw it must have been an adult.

John has been wonderful and he made sure the kids got to do all sorts of fun things on the 4th. Yesterday the kids rode their scooters in the parade out here in RM. All the kids at summer rec decorated their scooters & bikes and families decorated old cars and golf carts and drove down the main parkway. At lunch time John took all 3 kids to the carnival hosted by the Optimist club out her & the loved it, there were hot dogs & snow cones and then there were bounce houses and games for the kids to play.

Last night we went down the street for fire works and then sat on golf course to see the show over the lake. The kids all had a great time and slept in late this morning.

Well, I am now seeing double and can't focus so I think it is time to lay back down.

Baby Picaso

At least it was the walls that we can repaint & not the carpet!!!!

Them Bones!

We made it 6 years with out a child breaking a bone until this week. Charlie was at his end of the year baseball team party at the park on Tuesday night when he fell off his scooter and hurt himself. He got back up after a few minutes and was out playing with his friends for hours.

The next morning he could barely hold up his left arm and was cradling it with his right arm. He told me it hurt to bad to go to water day at summer rec and that is when I knew it was serious. I got him to the doctor yesterday morning and sure enough, he had broken his left radius up near his wrist.

We went back today and he got on his permanent cast. He wears this one for 3 weeks and then we go back and get it checked out. He may then get to wear a short arm cast for another week and at that point we are hoping it is all healed.

Charlie has been such a trooper about this and not letting it slow him down. Today after the Dr he went back to summer rec and was out playing dodge ball with all his friends. I have loved watching how happy he is and how something like this doesn't even take away his smile!

We Made it the first week of Summer Vacation!

I don't know why I feel a little guilty but it sure was nice to get the kids in bed tonight and to sit down and take a deep breath. We had a fun but busy week. Wednesday I took the kids into Folsom to see Shrek III then they had friends over in the afternoon to plays. Yesterday I spent all morning cleaning then the kids & I went to my parents to swim and play in the backyard. My dad had made the kids a couple of tire swings and Charlie & Annie loved trying them out. Today Charlie had a friend over for a few hours and I tried to get caught up on all the stuff I didn't do around here this week.

I am so excited that the kids start Summer Rec on Monday. Charlie will go from 8:45 to 12 Monday - Thursday and Annie goes 9-11:45 Monday - Wednesday. Then 4 of the next 6 weeks there are field trips on Friday. Summer Rec is here in RM at the local parks and most of the neighborhood kids are signed up to do it. Each week has a theme and there are water days, sports, and arts and crafts they do. At the end of the 6 weeks they have an art show for the parents to come see all the kids projects.

I am looking forward to having the routine of getting up and moving so I don't have to come up with activities for all day everyday and we aren't fighting the boredom of being home all the time, not to mention the TV monster sitting in our living room that draws the kids in. Plus I am looking forward to having some time alone with Audrey. She & I often don't get that right now and she is heading straight for the twos and I think she needs some mom time.

Today Audrey was dead set she was going to climb onto the kitchen counters and get into the cupboards - I am not exactly sure what she was looking for but she kept gravitating to the cupboards that hold all the art stuff I keep up so the kids don't get it everywhere (paint, scissors, etc). Every time I turned around today she had a chair pulled up to the counters and had her little but up in the air. And every time I got her down and told her no she cried like she has the most horrible life. Really this went on for hours today.

Anyway, enough about today, we have our last baseball game this weekend. Charlie is so excited to get his trophy & Annie doesn't understand why she doesn't get one too. She is such a cutie, she loved going to the practices and games and riding her scooter around. She also loved going to the snack bar - although she liked it best when I would just give her a dollar or two and let her go up to the counter herself.

It will be nice to have our weekends back at least for the next 9 weeks (we are on the count down to College football!).

Summer Vacation - Day 4 & 5

So my goal of wearing out the kids seems to be working. Monday I watched a friends two little kids (5 & 2) for the day and my kids had a blast. They were outside playing almost all day, between the trampoline, kiddie pools and slip and slide they were in the water for most of the day. Then in the later afternoon we went to the park for an hour then Karate for Charlie. Both older kids could barely keep their eyes open on the five minute drive home! All the kids were asleep by 7:30 and it is now 7:20 in the morning and everyone is still asleep.

Today we are off to Folsom to go to a movie (they have a free family movie every Tuesday and Wednesday morning at the Theater) and then to run a few errands. We have our last baseball practice this evening so that will be fun too!